


Have I Seen You Before?

by Aladin_Sane



Category: Baby Driver (2017)
Genre: Accidental Fatherhood, Father-Son Relationship, Rich Dads abandoning their Kids, reconnecting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:32:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aladin_Sane/pseuds/Aladin_Sane
Summary: Buddy's sitting across the meeting table from Baby and realizing just why his face looks so familiar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Concept: Baby Driver, but he only listens to the Kidz Bop covers of songs. 
> 
> This was a request from the lovely Beth, and if anyone has any more please leave them below! Sometimes it takes me awhile to get inspiration, but I'm planning on doing every one I've received so far.

"And, Buddy, Darling, this is Baby. Your new driver," Doc said, planting his hands on the young man's shoulders. Baby just looked ahead blankly, not quite at either of them. 

"He looks a little young for this job," Buddy said, looking the kid slowly up and down. Something about him was familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. 

"And your wife looks a little young for you, but nobody's said anything about that," Doc responded. Darling laughed, but Buddy just scowled. 

"Can we just do our fucking jobs?" Bats snapped from the corner. 

"Oh, yes, how could I forget. That charming gentleman is Bats," Doc said before starting to go over the plan. 

Buddy couldn't stop watching Baby. There was something so familiar about the way his fingers danced along the top of the table, and the way he chewed his bottom lip was something Buddy found himself strangely accustomed to. 

He mentally flipped through all the places he could've seen Baby. Was he a barista? A bartender? A dealer? Oh, God, was he a one night stand? The thought made Buddy's stomach flipped. He couldn't quite tell if Baby was legal, but either way he hoped he hadn't slept with him. 

Baby couldn't help but notice the way Buddy watched him. It wasn't the way everyone else looked at him, there was no hint of malice. Buddy was studying his every move and cataloging it. It made Baby feel like a rat in a lab. What was he supposed to do? A trick?

"Baby, did you get all that?" Doc asked. 

When Baby pulled off his sunglasses to recite the information. As soon as Buddy saw his eyes, he remembered. 

"Holy shit," he whispered to himself. 

Darling looked at him. Baby's monologue wavered at the distraction. "Everything alright, love?" she asked quietly. 

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me," Buddy said again, this time louder. 

"Is there a problem, Buddy?" Doc asked, spitting out his name like it burned his tongue. Baby trailed off, not quite knowing what to do while the situation unfolded before him. 

"Are you from around here, Baby?" Buddy asked. 

"Um." Baby furrowed his brow, wondering if it was a trick. "Yes."

"Doc, I need to talk to you in your office. Right now." Buddy got up and walked into the other room without waiting. 

In the short period of time it took Doc to get in there, Buddy had already lit a cigarette. His hands ran through his hair and the stress was evident in his face. 

"What the fuck is this about?" Doc snapped, slamming the door behind him. 

"I think, and this is gonna sound absolutely crazy, but I really need a DNA test for Baby."

"A DNA test? You aren't even supposed to know each other's first names and you want his entire genetic history?"

"Please, Doc? I'll give you my cut of tomorrow's earnings. I'll work a few jobs for free. I just-" Buddy lowered his voice, afraid to have anyone overhear. "I think I might be Baby's father." 

Doc's face ran through a quick range of emotions, all of them potentially deadly for Buddy. "You... Why the fuck would you think that?" 

Buddy sighed, took a long drag off his cigarette and looked out the window. "Around twenty years ago, when I was with my first wife, I came down here for a business trip. Things were pretty shitty between my wife and I, I thought we were gonna get a divorce. I had a, uh, a wild night with this gorgeous local singer."

"Baby's mother was not the only singer in Atlanta, Buddy."

"You think I don't know that? She visited me a few months later, undeniably pregnant. My wife and I had just rekindled, she was pregnant too. I couldn't leave that behind so I just... sent her home with a good chunk of cash. But Nickie, the singer, she kept writing to me. Would send me pictures of the kid, tell me how he was doing. I sent her half of everything I made for ten years, and then she just stopped writing."

Doc stood there quietly for a moment, staring out the windows with his hands crossed in front of him. "Buddy, I'm going to say something you don't want to hear."

"Okay."

"This isn't about Baby. This is about you feeling like shit for leaving three kids back in New York when your company went under. This is about your own guilt for being a terrible father, and I'm not going to let you push that onto Baby. He's got enough to worry about on his own." 

Buddy's jaw clenched. "Doc, I just want a DNA test. If it proves me wrong, then I'll let this drop. You can be the one to handle all the information. Please, Doc." 

Doc mulled it over for a few minutes. The room grew heavy with the silence as he considered every option. On one hand, this could just open up a huge can of worms that Doc would have to deal with. But the only other option was to have Buddy continuously drill Baby about his dead mother behind Doc's back. That would just stress the poor kid out and distract him from the job at hand. 

"Fine." Doc sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I'll pick up a paternity test while you're on the job, alright?" 

"God, Doc, thank you so much. I really owe you."

"Yes, you do. And don't even hint at this to Baby. Don't ask him any more questions about his life, don't stare at him. Pretend like he's not even there if you have to."

"Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Whatever it takes."

"Oh, and if you do end up being his father," Doc took a dramatic pause and looked Buddy up and down. "You're not going to tell him."

"What? Why not?"

"Those wounds have already healed, Buddy. If you tell him you're his dad, all you're going to do is cut open old scars." 

Buddy sighed. "Yeah, okay. I just gotta know." The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Baby. 

When they re-entered the room, Baby was being held against the wall, Bats' gun in his face. He didn't look scared, but he certainly didn't look comfortable. 

"Get your fucking hands off of him!" Buddy crossed the room, his gun in his hand in the blink of an eye. He dragged Bats off of Baby and threw him to the floor. Baby jerked against the wall, his head jerked back and forth as he tried to watch both of them at once. 

"Jesus Christ, will you two stop it? Just go do your job before I fire you both," Doc shouted. Baby flinched at the yelling, his body plastered against the wall. Buddy had half a mind to spin on Doc for scaring him. 

Darling grabbed his arm and pulled his gun hand down. "Buddy, relax. What's gotten into you?" 

Buddy looked at everyone individually. The angered way Bats clenched his jaw, the concern in Darling's eyes, and the nervous way Baby twitched his lips. And if looks could kill, Buddy would've been another notch on Doc's belt. 

"Nothing. I just think the blow was bad," he said, wrapping an arm around Darling and heading to the car. 

Doc mumbled a few curses to himself under his breath when they were gone. It had been a long time since he'd had to run any of his own errands. He patrolled the aisles of the nearest drug store, glaring down anybody who dared to look at him. 

Whenever he turned down an aisle, it cleared in seconds. Nobody ran from him, but they were clearly avoiding confrontation. Good. Doc liked when people knew their place. He grabbed the boxed kit and made his way to the counter. 

"Is this all today, sir?" the bubbly young girl asked while she rang up his purchase. 

"Yes, that's all."

"I hope you get whatever result you're looking for," she said. 

Doc glared. Didn't she have any sensitivity? Kids these days. 

The wait for the team to return was unbearable. Doc couldn't stop going over and over what the cashier had said. What result was he looking for? Buddy had promised he wouldn't mention it to Baby, but Doc knew he couldn't trust that. A positive result would eat at Buddy until he did something about it. 

Doc considered killing Buddy. That would solve the problem. But then there was the issue of Darling. She wouldn't let Buddy go down without a fight, and then Doc would be down two of his most trustworthy employees. 

He could kill Baby. Make it look like an accident, let Buddy mourn and move on. But they just didn't make drivers like Baby anymore. The kid was making Doc almost twice as much money as he did prior to meeting him. 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "Buddy, Baby, in my office," Doc said. 

Baby looked around in surprise. He didn't remember doing anything wrong. The job had gone well, nothing weird or unusual happened. He walked a little faster to get in Doc's office first. 

"Doc, I'm real sorry," he mumbled. 

"Baby, you know how I hate when you apologize when you don't know what you did."

"I know what I did."

"Yeah? What'd you do then?" Doc let Baby sit in silence for a moment. "That's what I thought. Sit down on the desk. Don't turn around."

He moved to stand behind Baby, opening the paternity test out of his line of sight. Buddy paced nervously back and forth in front of Baby, his hands clasped together under his chin. Baby's head swiveled as he watched. 

"What's happening?" he asked. 

"None of your business," Doc replied. 

"Then why am I here?"

"Don't ask questions. Buddy, come take this. Baby, open up." Doc walked back around the desk where Baby had obediently opened his mouth. Grabbing his jaw, Doc ran a cotton swab along the inside of Baby's cheek. 

"30 seconds, right?" Buddy asked.

"Yeah, get it all over too," Doc said. 

"What's happening?" Baby asked, squirming as Doc scraped at the inside of his mouth. 

"Stop talking, you're making my job harder." Doc slapped him lightly across the face to accentuate his point. He pulled out the cotton swab and dropped it into the DNA sample envelope. "Go get coffee, Baby." 

He waited until Baby had left the room and closed the door behind him, rubbing his cheek. "I'll give you a call in 3-8 weeks when I get the results. You don't want to know what I'm going to do if you let the results of this test impact your ability to work in any way." 

"Right, right. Of course not. I just may or may not have a son, no big deal," Buddy said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. 

"Last I checked, you already have a son. Why don't you take care of the kids you have?" 

"Jesus, Doc, why are you riding my ass like this?"

"Why, Buddy?" Doc spun on him, fury written all over his face. "You're going to ask me why? Maybe it has something to do with three kids waking up one morning to more debt than they'll be pay off in their lifetimes and no daddy. Maybe it has something to do with the way that everyone who has ever relied on you so far has been let down. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Baby is a damn good kid who already lost two parents, has a third getting closer to death each day. He doesn't need this shit. He doesn't need to be let down again." 

Buddy left without another word. He didn't say a word to Darling the entire drive home. He barely said a word for six weeks. 

Darling was sitting across the table from him, eating scrambled eggs when his burner buzzed on the granite counter. "Job from Doc?" she asked. 

"Maybe." Buddy walked across the room, letting it buzz for a minute. He didn't want to seem too eager. Nervously, he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before answering.

"Congrats, it's a boy," Doc said calmly before hanging up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buddy promised not to tell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant this as a one-shot but here we are?

Buddy swore up and down that he wouldn't let the results of the paternity test interfere with his work. He meant it when he made the promise, he really did. But that was before he found out that Baby was his son. 

Darling walked in on him sitting in the den, nursing his second bottle of tequila. He was looking through the old letters from Nickie, carefully studying the pictures of Baby. There was one of him behind the wheel of an old car, maybe 6 years old. Another was his third grade school picture, his hair greased to his head and his smile missing a few teeth. 

"Alright, you've gotta stop this. It's killing you, baby," Darling said, kissing the top of his head. They both made a face at the pet name. 

"Maybe you shouldn't be calling me that anymore."

"I think we might have to ban that name in this house." She took a picture of Baby swinging upside down from a tree out of Buddy's hands. "We for sure need to stop this."

Darling did whatever she could to get body out of his mood before their job the next day. But not even coke, sex, and killing a man behind their favorite bar could get him to stop thinking of Baby. 

"Do you think he knows?" he asked while they loaded up their guns.

"What do you think he was like as a kid?" he asked again while they drove up to Doc's place. 

"He's got my Dad's chin," he whispered into her ear while they sat in the back seat of the bank.

She was so sick of hearing about Baby that when it was time to get in the switch cars, she decided to ride with Bats. 

"What're you doing?" Buddy asked while she walked away. 

"Ride with your fucking baby," she snapped back. 

Buddy looked back to see if Baby heard him, but he was already in the car. Blowing out an anxious breath, Buddy got in the passenger side of the car. Baby pulled out his earbuds and switched his sunglasses to look less suspicious, throwing his jacket into the back seat. 

"Good?" Buddy asked.

Baby nodded, already pulling out of the parking garage. 

Buddy really tried not to, but he couldn't stop staring. Suddenly, everything about Baby became incredibly important to him. The way he tilted his head, just like Buddy's brother, and the way he worried his bottom lip between his teeth, just like Nickie. 

Baby could feel Buddy's eyes on him the entire drive. He tried changing the song to get Buddy to think of something else. At one point he even hit a speed bump without even slowing down, just to scare Buddy into looking away. 

He wanted to ask, but he just couldn't figure out how to work his mouth. Buddy could see him getting more agitated as time went on. 

"Pull over, Baby, we need to talk," he said. 

Baby could feel his heart jump into his throat. "But, Doc said -"

"I know what Doc said. Pull over." 

The car slowed to a halt on the side of the road. Baby's hands were shaking on the wheel. He'd done something wrong, he must've. Now Buddy was going to kill him. And if Buddy didn't finish the job, Doc would for sure because he didn't drive along the exact path he'd been instructed. 

"Okay, Baby, listen -"

"Wait." His voice sounded strained, but he keep his eyes forward. He'd never been more grateful for the sunglasses. "I'm really sorry, Buddy. I wasn't thinking, I never should have done that." 

Buddy blinked at him. "What are you apologizing for?"

Baby hated that question. He didn't know what he was doing ever, with anything. For the first 3 years he worked with Doc, he was constantly in trouble and he rarely knew he even did anything wrong. Everyone in this business had all sorts of rules that Baby just couldn't keep straight. 

"I botched the job." He thought hard about every turn he made. "I turned right when I should've turned left and it almost got Darling shot." 

"Baby, I'm not mad at you."

Baby looked over at him, his eyebrows raised in question. 

"I had you stop the car because we need to talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah." Buddy tapped the dashboard with his hands, trying to think of how to start the conversation. "What does your mom do for a living?" 

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Is she disabled? Is she unemployed? What do you mean?"

"She's dead." 

Buddy felt that like a shot to the heart. Oh. That's why the letters stopped. "I'm so sorry, Baby." 

He just shrugged.

"Okay." Plan A destroyed Plans B-F. This was going way worse than Buddy had even planned for. "Okay, I'm just gonna say it." He let out another breath. "Baby, I'm your dad."

Baby took off his sunglasses. He looked out the windshield for a moment, his head bobbing to the music. Then he looked at Buddy. "No, you're not."

That was something Buddy for sure didn't plan for. "Yes, I am."

"No."

"Baby, yes."

"No. Buddy, this isn't a funny joke. He died in the crash with my mom." 

"He wasn't your real dad." 

"That's..." Baby scowled out the window, trying to figure out what to say. "That doesn't make sense." 

"I'm your real dad. Biologically, at least. Doc knows too." 

"Okay." Baby started the car. "Okay. I have to talk to Doc."

"What? Right now? No, no, no, you can't do that." Buddy's words were ignored as Baby took them back to the warehouse. "Baby, are you sure you want to do this?" 

"No." 

The car slid into a parking space, not at the perfect angle like usual. Baby marched so quickly that Buddy could barely keep up. His feet hit the ground hard on every beat, echoing across the the parking garage. Buddy couldn't think of the last time he'd seen Baby doing anything with emotion. 

"Are you sure you want to talk to Doc about this? Maybe you shouldn't. You know how mad he gets when anybody bothers him with unimportant things," Buddy said in the elevator. He knew two things about Baby: he drove like the devil and he was scared of Doc. He felt like shit using that fear against him, but his ass was on the line. Maybe this was the lack of loyalty Doc had been implying earlier.

"Stop," Baby said, his voice wavering just barely. 

The elevator door opened, revealing Doc standing in the center of the room, flanked by Darling and Bats. "Where the hell have you two been?" he demanded. 

"Is he my dad?" 

Doc looked right at Buddy. "Are you shitting me? The first job you do with him since finding out and you tell him? We had a deal, Buddy!" 

Baby was overwhelmed. He hadn't seen Doc this angry in a long time. Buddy looked angry too. Buddy was, apparently, his dad. There wasn't a song for this. 

"I'm..." He trailed off, trying to think of what he wanted to say. Instead, he turned on his heels and walked back into the elevator. He was gone as quick as he came in.

Doc walked across the room, taking off his glasses as he got closer. He poked Buddy hard in the center of his chest with the end of his pistol. "I hope you're fucking happy."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just got back from a short trip, ready to get back to work. 
> 
> Any requests or ideas, feel free to hmu

Baby didn't know what happened between Doc and Buddy that night. He just went home, sat in his room and tried to make tapes of the conversation in the car. 

"What does your Mom do?" and "Baby, I'm your dad" were the two products of the evening. 

He kept his head down for a few weeks, ignored a few phone calls. Mainly ordered pizzas and stayed at home. On the third day, Doc showed up at his apartment. 

"Baby, I've got a job for you."

"When?" 

"Today. Are you in?"

Baby checked his watch. It was almost 7am. "I need to make Joe breakfast," he said. 

"He can make himself toast." 

When he looked back at Joe, the old man just signed at him to leave. Baby turned back to Doc. "I don't know, he might need help." 

"Are you kidding, Baby? What's this about? Are you mad that I kept a secret from you? Because, I don't mean to make things worse, but there are a helluva lot more secrets where that came from."

"Is Buddy working the job?"

"Yes."

"Then I can't." 

"Baby, just get in the car." 

He followed Doc down the stairs to his car. Neither of them spoke on the drive, neither of them spoke until they stepped into the elevator. Doc hit the stop button and Baby started cycling through all the ways he could die in an elevator. 

"Listen, I know that this is all a little too much for you. I just need you to hold it together for one more job, then I'll give you a break. Have you ever been to Disney World? I'll send you and Joe."

Baby mulled it over for a second. "No, thanks."

Doc clapped a hand on his shoulder, but didn't say anything more. The elevator started up again. When the doors opened, Baby walked with his eyes cast down and dropped into his seat. 

"Baby, can we talk?" Buddy asked, sliding into a chair next to him. 

"No time, we've gotta go over the plan for Baby and get you four outta here." 

Baby glanced around the room quickly. The job was him, Buddy, Bats, and some guy named Chief that Baby never really liked but never really had a problem with. He half listened to Doc's spiel, but feeling Buddy's eyes on him was more distracting than he'd expected. 

"Questions?" Doc asked. 

Without answering, Baby grabbed the set of car keys off the table and started walking towards the garage. 

"The fuck is his problem?" Bats asked. 

"Whatever it is, it isn't yours," Doc replied. 

Bats watched Baby and Buddy the entire car ride to the bank. Baby was pointedly staring ahead, not even looking around to check his surroundings. Buddy was staring at Baby as if he was waiting to hear bad news. 

He didn't say anything until they were walking into the bank, Chief three steps ahead. 

"Did you two fuck or something?" he asked in a hushed tone. 

"Shut up."

"So I take it he didn't call you back?" 

"Focus on the job." Buddy pulled his mask up and opened up the doors to the bank. 

The job went smooth, the getaway even smoother. Baby was faster than Bats had ever seen him, eager to get the job done. When they pulled into the garage, Baby didn't even bother stopping the car. 

Bats got in his car and started it, waiting for Chief to get into the passenger seat. He glanced into the rear view window and saw Baby walking towards his car. 

"What are you doing? You ride with me," Buddy said. Baby ignored him, putting in his earbuds as he kept walking. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Sharply, Buddy grabbed Baby by the elbow and yanked him backwards. 

Bats wasn't the type of guy to get involved in other people's business, but he sure as fuck didn't like the scared look on Baby's face. Even he had his limits. 

"Hey, shut the fuck up. Baby, get in the car," he snapped. 

Buddy loosened his grip just enough for Baby to yank his arm away. He was in the car before Buddy could say anything more. 

"Everything alright?" Bats asked. 

"Just drive."

"Damn, alright." Bats rolled his eyes but didn't say anything more. 

Baby was normally quiet during the drives, but this was a different quiet. He seemed anxious. His fingers couldn't stop fiddling with the volume settings on his ipod, his mouth kept twitching. He constantly seemed on the verge of saying something, but always stopped himself last minute. 

"Spit it out," Bats said. 

That seemed to shock Baby out of his nervous cycle. "I'm sorry about today."

"What?"

"Buddy and I. I should have been more professional about it."

"I get it. Sometimes people are just a bad fuck. There's nothing you can do about it." 

Baby's head snapped over to look at Bats. "You think we... did it?" 

Bats just shrugged. "Listen, your business is your business. I'm not gonna give you a hard time about it," he said. "So, what was it? Did he have a weird fetish?"

"No."

"Man, was it scat?"

"Scat?" Baby looked forward again, his confusion written on his face. "Like, Ella Fitzgerald? Like, jazz? Is that a fetish?" 

"No, I mean..." Bats glanced over at him. "Never mind. Was it vomit? That'd be a turnoff for me too, I won't judge you for that."

"No, not that."

"Was it the 'Baby' thing? Did he make you uncomfortable?"

"He's my dad."

"I could've told you Buddy had a 'Daddy' kink from the moment I met him."

"No, he's my Dad dad. My father." 

"Oh, shit," Bats muttered to himself. Dads were tough. "That oughtta make the sex weird." Baby made a quiet gagging noise and twisted his face up. "I'm kidding. Don't think about it too hard." 

"Doc doesn't want him to be my dad. But Buddy really wants to be my dad." Baby gave up on trying to have a conversation. He just needed to say out loud exactly what the problem was and have somebody, anybody hear it. 

"What do you want?" Bats asked. 

Fuck, Baby didn't prepare for the conversation to actually open up. He'd mostly been expecting Bats to go "Oh, that sucks" and let it end from there. He turned his attention to his ipod, waiting for the question to blow over. 

"Baby, what do you want?" Bats asked again. 

More silence followed, nothing but the hum of the road and the click of Baby's ipod. 

"Baby." 

"I don't know." 

The immaturity and anxiety was evident in the hitch of his voice. It was easy to forget that Baby was so young. He was usually so professional on the job, nothing but that steely look in his eyes and the squeal of the tires. In this moment, Bats looked over and just saw a kid who was way in over his head. 

He pulled the car over. Baby considered getting out and just walking the rest of the way. Parked cars were rarely a good thing. 

"Baby, I want you to think about yourself. You've gotta figure out what you want and then tell that to Buddy and Doc. If either of them have a problem with your decision, they can answer to me," Bats said. 

There was another stretch of silence. Baby was staring at Bats as if he'd just grown a third head. 

"What?" he asked. 

"Are you my dad too?" Baby asked, half kidding and half scared of the answer. 

"I can have your back without having some sort of obligation to you," Bats said. Baby didn't seem convinced. "You've obviously got a lot of personal issues. Do you have another dad?" 

"Had. Have? One dead dad and one foster dad."

"What was your dead dad like?" Bats hated the way it sounded, but using Baby's own words seemed easier than trying to rephrase it. The kid generally just repeated what other people said, so it'd probably help him keep the conversation straight in his head. Or whatever. Bats wasn't a psychologist. 

"He..." A montage of all the times he'd seen his mom get hit flipped through his head. "He was fine."

"Mmm."' Bats wasn't a psychologist, but he knew what that meant. "What's your foster dad like?"

Baby tilted his head, trying to think of exactly how to phrase it. "He's the best. I take care of him now, and I have for years. I don't mind doing it, either." 

"So, who's been taking care of you?" 

"I'm grown. I don't need anybody taking care of me." 

"Maybe you're an adult, but you're not grown."

"Doc takes care of me."

"Doc forced you into a life of crime." Baby looked over at him again, and Bats shrugged. "I've got a good eye for people. The point is, that you're never going to have a perfect father figure. Maybe instead of one good one, you're the type of person to end up with four kinda shitty ones." 

Bats didn't really know what else to say after that. Instead, he started up the car and started driving back to the safe house. He took the longest way he could manage, trying to give Baby more time to think. 

Trying to give someone a helpful talk was always emotionally draining for Bats. It made him want to kill someone just to make himself feel normal again. But Baby was always an exception for Bats. How many times had he said that he killed anybody who ignored him? And how many times had he told Baby something only to be met with empty silence and a blank stare?

"Five," Baby said as they pulled up to the safe house. 

"Huh?" Bats asked. 

"Not four. Five." Baby gave him a look that clearly meant something, but Bats couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Another second passed and Baby got out of the car. 

Bats huffed out a laugh to himself before following Baby inside. He moved his gun to a more visible place in his belt, just to be get the message across to Buddy and Doc.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay there are so many typos and just... dumb mistakes in the last three chapters???   
> Idk, if it bothers you/ruins the story let me know. I just don't edit that carefully when I write fanfic. I just get inspired and wanna get it out there. 
> 
> I'm still kinda working on requests. It's slow, now that schools up and running. That doesn't mean I don't wanna hear your requests/don't wanna do them! 
> 
> One request I've gotten a few times is autistic Baby fics, and tbh I saw that as a canon thing. So there are aspects of that in all of my fics. I'm not really sure how to write a whole story about it. If you have any ideas you're looking for specifically, let me know.

Doc gave Baby a break as promised. It was less than a week, but 5 days was all Doc could afford to lose. That's what he said, at least. Baby didn't feel like pointing out that Doc probably could've given him a month off and barely scratched the surface of all the money he had stocked away. 

Baby had never, ever been mad at Doc before. He wouldn't dare. But when he walked into the meeting room and saw Buddy, that changed. He froze the second his eyes landed on on the other man. The squeak of his sneakers as he stopped drew three sets of eyes to him. 

"Now, hold on a second," Doc said. 

"I quit," Baby said firmly and turned back towards the elevator. 

"You know you can't. Baby, get back here!" 

Ignoring Doc, Baby got back in the elevator and pressed the ground floor button. He could see Buddy heading towards him but he tried to pretend he didn't notice. That didn't stop him from hitting the "close door" button a few times. 

Buddy stuck his hand in and caught the door at the last second. He slipped inside and hit the button again. As soon as they were isolated in the elevator Buddy turned to him. He opened his mouth to stop but Baby cut him off. 

"Did you know about me?" he asked. Buddy didn't answer. So Baby cleared his throat and tried again. "Did you know my mom was gonna have me? And did you know I was yours?" 

"Yeah. Kinda." Buddy rubbed his hand over his eyes. "She used to write to me about you. When she stopped, I didn't..." 

"You didn't come looking for me?" 

"Baby, if I'd known you'd end up like this, I would've made completely different decisions."

"If you'd known I'd end up like this," Baby echoed. "Like this?" He shook his head and pressed the elevator button to take them back to Doc's floor. 

"You know I didn't mean it like that." 

"Yeah." The door opened and Baby marched out to the beat of his song. He took his seat without looking at anybody. 

Doc looked him up and down and then glared at Buddy. This couldn't keep happening. He needed Baby on his A-game. Buddy was ruining everything. He had to put a stop to this. 

One of the other men, the one who went by Chef, was looking hard at Baby. "You two got history?" he asked, gesturing towards Buddy with his gun. 

"Mind your own business," Baby snapped, surprising even himself. 

Doc jerked his head towards Buddy, who mirrored his movement. Oh, Doc for sure had to put an end to this situation. He went over the plan and released them as quickly as he could. While the rest of them left, Doc called for Baby to stay back. 

He held up his hand to stop the apology before it left Baby's lips. "Listen to me. Buddy's making things difficult. I'm aware of it."

"I can deal with it," Baby said. 

"I don't want you to deal with it. So I'm telling you right now is that if something happened out there, if something goes wrong today, I won't be too upset if Buddy doesn't come back." He studied the boy's face for a few seconds. "Do you want to do that?" 

"Do I want to do that?" 

"I think you do." Sometimes Baby needed some nudging in the right direction. It wasn't Doc's fault that he was so impressionable. 

Baby nodded and left the warehouse. 

Doc's words hung over him as he drove them away from the bank. Not even the getaway chase was exciting enough to distract him. When they pulled into the covered garage, he didn't give Buddy the keys like usual. 

"Baby?" Buddy asked. 

"I'm driving," he said. 

Instead of taking them back to Doc right away, he drove around in circles. Hitting the freeway just for the speed was almost enough to calm his nerves. Buddy realized something was up when Baby pulled off and started driving into the country. 

"Where are we?" he asked, looking around at the stretches of farm country that surrounded them on either side. 

"Doc wants me to kill you," Baby said flatly. 

"Are you gonna do it?" 

"I don't know." He took his hand off the wheel just long enough to wipe at his eyes. His thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of his nose and he breathed in deeply. 

"Can I help you decide?"

"You're just gonna tell me not to." 

"You don't want Darling coming down on you, Baby. You don't want me coming down on you. I'm not just gonna sit back and let it happen."

Baby slammed on the breaks. The dirt from the road kicked up around them, blocking out the rest of the world for a second. Baby's music was blaring through the speakers. Buddy thought he could die to Queen, if he had to. His head hit the dashboard and the seat-belt cut into his hip. 

"You're gonna regret that," he groaned. 

"Get out of the car," Baby said. He was fumbling with his seat-belt buckle. 

"What?" Buddy watched him throw himself out of the car door, rubbing his head as he paced outside the vehicle. He realized that he wasn't going to get a further response until he did as he was told. Before getting out, he clicked the safety off of his gun. 

"Baby, let's calm down here," he said as soothingly as he could manage. The kid looked stressed. His stone-faced expression was gone. Buddy had seen that look on other men before. This was the end of the line, this was the animal backed into a corner. He didn't think Baby was willing to kill him before, but in that moment he was sure he'd have to fight his way home. 

He reached towards Baby's shoulder, moving slowly and loudly. Baby's back was to him, but Buddy could see his shoulders heaving. "Hey, listen, we can-"

Baby spun quickly, his sunglasses crooked on his face, one earbud dangling by his hip. "Where were you?" he asked, voice cracking partway through. 

"What do you mean?" 

"When I ended up in foster car? When Doc made me start working for him? Where were you?" 

"I didn't know. Baby, trust me, if I'd known you needed me -"

"How could you think I didn't?" Baby shook his head and started pacing again. He was angry. He hadn't been this angry for this long ever in his life. It was like all the anger he'd ever felt was pouring out at this moment. 

Buddy noticed, readjusted his grip on the gun just slightly. Seeing that made Baby stop and think for a second. His eyes shifted from the weapon to Buddy's face a few times. 

"Maybe I'm glad you weren't around, Dad," he said quietly. 

"Baby, wait." The driver's side door slammed shut. Baby made a sharp turn, the grill of the car barely grazing Buddy's leg as he spun around him. They stared each other down the entire time. His expression was unreadable behind the sunglasses, but Buddy had a pretty good idea what he was thinking. 

He watched the car speed away. Standing in the midday sun, he started patting his pockets for his phone. Suddenly, he could picture it in his head. It was sitting in the cup holder. 

Baby apparently noticed at the same time. The car stopped again. This time, Buddy's sleek back phone was tossed like a Frisbee out the driver's side door. 

"Thanks, Baby!" he shouted. 

When he managed to find the phone in the soft dirt between two corn stalks. It was cracked but still turned on. Darling's voice came out crackling and unsteady. 

"Job go okay?" she asked. 

"Uh, no. Well, yeah, but not for me. Baby left me in the middle of a field. Can you come get me?" 

"That's not specific enough. Where are you?" 

"Can't you just track my phone's GPS?" 

There was a pause as she checked. "It's been disabled." 

Buddy's eye twitched. Baby was a pain in the ass when he wanted to be. "Un-disable it." 

"I can't. It needs a passcode." 

"Well, I didn't set one up!" He huffed out a breath angrily. Who knew Baby could be so much of a dick? 

The sound of Darling's gum popping was loud over the phone. "I guess just pick a direction and start walking. Call me back when you have something I can punch into google maps. Love ya, baby." She and Buddy both made mildly disgusted noises. "Sorry. Love ya, sweetheart." 

"Love ya too," he grumbled. Great. Buddy sighed and decided to walk the way Baby had driven off. 

The sun beat down on him, his dark clothes absorbed the heat. He probably looked incredibly suspicious, still in his robbery outfit. It would've been a problem if there was anyone around to see him. As it was, there wasn't a soul in sight. The only sign of life was the cicadas buzzing. 

He walked for 20 minutes until he got over the top of a hill in the road. As he reached the crest, he noticed a familiar car parked just out of his previous line of sight. 

With casual hesitation he approached. Baby had switched over to Sam and Dave now, tapping out the beat on the steering wheel. Buddy knocked on the window. 

"Break down?" he asked when Baby turned to look at him. 

"No." A pause. "Get in." 

"Were you waiting for me?" 

"Get in." 

"Are you gonna kill me?" 

"No." 

Buddy studied Baby's face, trying to see if there was any fight left in him. "Why did you wait for me?" 

"I didn't want to inconvenience Darling." 

The grin that spread across Buddy's face was completely out of his control. "She's something else, ain't she?" 

"I need to get back to Doc in less than an hour." 

The ride back was long and insufferable. Buddy felt like getting out and walking anyways, just to avoid facing the guilt that settled in his stomach. Baby had switched his ipod so he could have his earbuds in. That just left Buddy with nothing but the hum of the road and Baby's soft humming. 

"I'm sorry," he said after 45 minutes of driving. 

Baby didn't respond. He reached over and pulled out one earbud. The look he got in response was a stark reminder that Baby was still just a teenager. 

"I said I'm sorry." 

"For what?" It wasn't an attempt to get Buddy to admit anything. Baby seemed truly confused about the apology. 

"For not being a dad for you. You needed me and I wasn't there for you."

"You didn't want me." Baby shrugged. "I shouldn't have been so selfish. You deserve to make your own decisions." 

Buddy didn't know what to say. He looked Baby up and down slowly. He could see his own mother's sparkle in his eyes, recognized the color his hair had been when he was that age. Baby was his son, but he was a better man than Buddy had ever been. 

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. His hand cupped the back of Baby's head. Relief flooded him when Baby leaned into it slightly instead of yanking away. 

"You're a good kid, Baby," he said. 

He wasn't naive enough to think he could undo all the bad things he'd done. Buddy knew it was too late to make it up to his kids, any of them. But Baby had waited for almost half an hour in a car that baked in the Georgia sun for Buddy. He couldn't fix it, but he could stop making the same mistakes over and over again.


End file.
